So with the site of playoffs gone is it fair to put the blame on Turner? Not all of it. General Manager AJ Smith is definitely to blame along with Owner/President Dean Spanos. Spanos was the one who believed in these gentlemen and while its evident that Spanos wants to win his decisions show different. Now it’s inevitable fans will get their wish. Norv should be on his way out. AJ says he can deliver Gruden, but is that AJ just pulling his buns away from the fire? If not I put together my top 10 list of who could fit in San Diego.

10- Rod Marinelli, Defensive Coordinator of the Chicago Bears- We can’t blame the Lousy Lions all on Marinelli. It was a mess there and look at what he is doing for Chicago! Marinelli deserves another chance. The only worry I do have, he was the coach of the Lousy Lions!

9- Chip Kelly, Head Coach of Oregon Ducks- One reason only I don’t believe in Chip Kelly. His method of football befuddles me and have a hard time believing it will be effective in the NFL. Think about it like this, 200 pound linebackers 125 pound running backs. The whole idea is speed kills everywhere. No. I don’t think it will even come close to working in the NFL. Kelly knows how to win and do it consistently, so i’ll give him the nod over Norv.

8- Perry Fewell, Defensive Coordinator for the New York Giants- Fewell is doing a great job for the Giants. I don’t like the fact that he has been considered for a lot of jobs and never called for an interview. The truth is though he won a bowl based around his defense. That speaks enough for me.

7- Bruce Arians, Interim Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts- What Arians has been accomplishing with a mostly very young Colts team and torn apart at the seams franchise, is truly remarkable. To think that the Colts are in the playoff conversation is amazing!

6- Bill Cowher, Analyst for CBS- The Chin falls this low?!? YES! I love the guy. Cowher was awesome for the Steelers! A great motivator and a true motivational tool. The Chin has also made numerous Steelers teams competitive. Why does he fall this low? He has been out of the game so LONG. It’s a completely different game right now and I am not POSITIVE that he can come back and be as effective as he once was. I have also read a lot of reports saying that he knew football, but not as much as a head coach should.

5-Ron Rivera, Coach of the Carolina Panthers- When Rivera was the defensive coordinator of the Chargers they ranked first in overall defense. With Carolina getting impatient and firing the GM it looks more than likely that he will be out of a job. He proved himself in Diego and can bring success back. Ron has a presence of equal proportion and brings a certain intensity to the game of football. Cam Newton isn’t a typical quarterback and not what everyone saw last year. With that being said he didn’t get a fair shot at sitting at the head of the table.

4- Roy Horton, Defensive Coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals- Yes the Cardinals were bad this year, and yes they lost to the Jets, BUT that GREAT start out of the gate was due to the dominance of the defense. Horton is bound for a head coaching job some where so San Diego is a pretty good place to start. You can’t do any worse than the Chargers have already and when you have done most of your coaching with/learning from Dick LeBeau that makes me believe the you are AT LEAST a great defensive mind and can get it done.

3- Mike Holmgren, CHILLING- Nothing to do no where to go. Holmgren has already expressed that he was thinking about getting back in the game. His attitude is a little more relaxed than the others, but still has a good football presence and look at what he was able to do with Farve. Rivers and Favre are the same type of nitty gritty gun slingers who are tough and competitors. He had a little hiccup in Cleveland which makes me wonder if his style of football will still fly in the NFL, but no one can deny that the Browns have talent in the arm pit of the US.

2- Brian Billick, Analyst for FOX- Billick is a Super Bowel winning coach with tons of experience. While Billick is an offensive minded guy he coached one of the greatest defenses in the history of football. While he has great presence on the side line he also has a notch with Tight Ends. What has made San Diego so different and unique was its Tight Ends. With Green coming up through the ranks this would definitely be a bonus too. It won’t be hard finding a defensive coordinator that will team up with Billick. Not many people can win a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer as the quarterback.

1- John Gruden, ESPN Analyst- While I don’t think that this is possible, it could be the best fit and a chance for San Diego to win as soon as next year. The one they call, “Chucky,” is a warm weather guy, someone who enjoys having a set quarterback with lots of talent, and for him to come back it would take a team with a talent pool such as San Diego’s. The problem with Gruden is that no one has been able to pry him from the nice warm booth. The Chargers would benefit from Gruden because of his no nonsense and go for the jugular brand of coaching. He could definitely be the guy to bring San Diego to a Super Bowl.

So instead of writing everything all over again, it has been reported that “sources,” say that Dean Spanos will fire Norv Turner and AJ Smith at the end of the year. Top 5 GM’s coming SOON!

Bolt Pride!

-Joey Nicks

Let’s start there with the HC, Norval Turner, did any of you know that he was back up to our HOF QB Dan Fouts while at Oregon? They remain good friends to this day. He also came to visit Fouts during training camp and picked the brain of Don Coryell. Yes, that is why his offenses look so familiar to us ‘Old Timers’. His offensive mind is great, but it’s the nuances of being a HC that concern all of us, time outs, 2 min drills ect.  This is where Rich Bisaccia comes in. He is the new assistant HC. With the turn around the special teams made under him last season, I believe he will be a huge help to Norv. My expectations are that he calls the time outs, keeps in Norv’s  ear about time management and helps light a fire under the players @$$. Norv needs to keep his mind on the offense and not be confused by other stuff.

Another concern I have with to coaching staff is Jeff Hurd, the strength and conditioning coach. I know it’s not just me that thinks our guys get hurt way to much, most of it has to do with conditioning. Yes we see them stretch during pre-game but, is that enough? In my mind we have had more problems with nagging injuries since 2007 when he was brought in. (I need to move on from this, I’m trying to publish something positive!!)

Our Oline coach is Hall Hunter. He has been in that position since 2006, his lines have been responsible for LT’s rushing record and TD record. His new roll this year is OC, well we all know that is just a title as he won’t be calling the plays, but he me be able to influence Norv to run just a little more or in certain situations.

We all should know our receivers coach, Charlie Joiner. If you don’t know who Joiner is watch some Bolts games from the early 80’s!

Moving over to defense, we have new DC John Pagano. He has been with the team for 10 years, starting out as an assistant LB coach. He has been able to help mold guys like Shaun Phillips, Donald Butler, Steven Cooper and new assistant special teams coach Carlos Polk. I think learning under Wade Phillips and Ron Rivera along with seeing how Greg Manusky messed up last season will influence his play calling and schemes, not to mention his brother Chuck has ran a great defense over in Baltimore for years and I am sure he has picked his brain at family gatherings. What I expect to see from our D this year is a more aggressive attack the QB, tackle behind the line of scrimmage, man on man defense.

This brings me to Ron Meeks, an ex-DC with Indy and Carolina. The later didn’t fair so well but, from 2002 -2009 Indy had a decent secondary. It is always nice to have coaches with rings to help your team.

We also have a new LB coach in Joe Barry. Barry was Detroit’s DC from 2001 – 2006, they didn’t fair so well but his LB coaching should be just fine as he played and coached at Linebacker U. (That would be USC).

I see some really good things happening this season, particularly the Lombardi Trophy, that has eluded us for so long! I see us having a top 5 rusher, top 5 passing game and back to a top 10 defense.